Today, in the S.F. Bay area and in Silicon Valley, you are “hip” and “in” depending on which World Wide Web search engine you use, and the “hippest” one seems to change weekly. Those of us who have to get real work done using these engines just want to know which ones should we use when, and what we should know about how they work. Unlike the hype-filled articles commonly seen on the lay press, this article attempts to answer these questions based on facts.
In the search engine list below, Search Engine Watch provides a guide to the major search engines of the web. Why are these considered to be “major” search engines? Because they are either well-known or well-used.
For webmasters, the major search engines are the most important places to be listed, because they can potentially generate so much traffic.
For searchers, well-known, commercially-backed search engines generally mean more dependable results. These search engines are more likely to be well-maintained and upgraded when necessary, to keep pace with the growing web.
On this page, you will see reference to “crawlers” and “crawler-based results” versus “directories” and “human-powered results.” These describe the two major ways that search engines get editorial listings. See the How Search Engines Work page to understand more about the difference between crawlers and directories.
If you are interested in being listed in these search engines, see Search Engine Watch’s Search Engine Submission Tips section for free, step-by-step help about the essentials to submitting to search engines and improving your chances of ranking well. Relevant links to specific tips are integrated into this page, as well.
First, some background is given, then there is a section on how search engines work (including hints on how to get your site found). Finally, some search examples are given to illustrate which engine performs the best, and how you can get the most out of search engines. You won’t find why one page is more “cool” than another, and you won’t find out what impressive hardware some company has. I give just a few useful hints and examples for the average Joe Web User, who wants to find information fast, so they can leave work sooner.
Top 10 Search Terms in 10 Categories, May 2009
Bing — Early Estimations in Local Search
Using Paid Search for Organic Optimization
